IoT Challenge Sparks Ongoing Discussion

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A US challenge to build testbeds for the Internet of Things aims to get Americans to think about what's possible and to come to grips with the challenges making it happen. We talked with two of the experts driving the challenge on Friday and invite you to continue the discussion here.

The effort casts a broad net across sectors including manufacturing, energy, transportation, healthcare and home/building automation. It aims to shine a light on gaps in areas such as latency, determinism -- and especially interoperability -- for today's networked control systems.

"Without working hard I can think of at least a dozen non-interoperable protocols used in building, industrial and home control," said Mulligan in the Friday chat.

"Smart America is trying to show what can be done with all the protocols and already existing technologies," said Rhee.

The US effort is not alone. "Japan is working on major upgrades of its energy grid using CPS technologies," Mulligan said. "The EU has groups looking at privacy issues related to the IoT, and China Telecom and China Mobile have been talking about numerous pilot IoT projects," some involving millions of users, said Mulligan.

In the US, large and small companies in automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation along with universities and government agencies have already sent in suggestions or proposals to the Smart America Challenge. The group will post updates on its website about them, especially after a December 12 workshop.

In the meantime, if you have questions or ideas, the Twitter chat we started Friday continues. Click the title of the chat below or click here to go to the full Twitter timeline.